| 12661 | February 1 | Event | 1884 – The first volume (A to Ant) of the Oxford English Dictionary is published. |
| 12662 | February 1 | Event | 1893 – Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey. |
| 12663 | February 1 | Event | 1895 – Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger. |
| 12664 | February 1 | Event | 1897 – Shinhan Bank, the oldest bank in South Korea, opens in Seoul. |
| 12665 | February 1 | Event | 1908 – King Carlos I of Portugal and his son, Prince Luis Filipe, are killed in Terreiro do Paço, Lisbon. |
| 12666 | February 1 | Event | 1918 – Russia adopts the Gregorian calendar. |
| 12667 | February 1 | Event | 1924 – The United Kingdom recognizes the USSR. |
| 12668 | February 1 | Event | 1942 – World War II: Josef Terboven, Reichskommissar of German-occupied Norway, appoints Vidkun Quisling the Minister President of the National Government. |
| 12669 | February 1 | Event | 1942 – World War II: U.S. Navy conducts Marshalls–Gilberts raids, the first offensive action by the United States against Japanese forces in the Pacific Theater. |
| 12670 | February 1 | Event | 1942 – Voice of America, the official external radio and television service of the United States government, begins broadcasting with programs aimed at areas controlled by the Axis powers. |
| 12671 | February 1 | Event | 1946 – Trygve Lie of Norway is picked to be the first United Nations Secretary-General. |
| 12672 | February 1 | Event | 1946 – The Parliament of Hungary abolishes the monarchy after nine centuries, and proclaims the Hungarian Republic. |
| 12673 | February 1 | Event | 1953 – North Sea flood of 1953 (Dutch, Watersnoodramp, literally "flood disaster") was a major flood caused by a heavy storm, that occurred on the night of Saturday, 31 January 1953 and morning of Sunday, 1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands |
| 12674 | February 1 | Event | 1957 – Felix Wankel's first working prototype (DKM 54) of the Wankel engine runs at the NSU research and development department Versuchsabteilung TX in Germany |
| 12675 | February 1 | Event | 1960 – Four black students stage the first of the Greensboro sit-ins at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. |
| 12676 | February 1 | Event | 1964 – The Beatles have their first number one hit in the United States with "I Want to Hold Your Hand." |
| 12677 | February 1 | Event | 1965 – The Hamilton River in Labrador, Canada is renamed the Churchill River in honour of Winston Churchill. |
| 12678 | February 1 | Event | 1968 – Vietnam War: The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyễn Văn Lém by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyễn Ngọc Loan is videotaped and photographed by Eddie Adams. This image helped build opposition to the Vietnam War. |
| 12679 | February 1 | Event | 1968 – Canada's three military services, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force, are unified into the Canadian Forces. |
| 12680 | February 1 | Event | 1968 – The New York Central Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad are merged to form Penn Central Transportation. |
| 12681 | February 1 | Event | 1972 – Kuala Lumpur becomes a city by a royal charter granted by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. |
| 12682 | February 1 | Event | 1974 – A fire in the 25-story Joelma Building in São Paulo, Brazil kills 189 and injures 293. |
| 12683 | February 1 | Event | 1974 – Kuala Lumpur is declared a Federal Territory. |
| 12684 | February 1 | Event | 1978 – Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees the United States to France after pleading guilty to charges of having sex with a 13-year-old girl. |
| 12685 | February 1 | Event | 1979 – The Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile. |
| 12686 | February 1 | Event | 1982 – Senegal and the Gambia form a loose confederation known as Senegambia. |
| 12687 | February 1 | Event | 1989 – The Western Australian towns of Kalgoorlie and Boulder amalgamate to form the City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder. |
| 12688 | February 1 | Event | 1990 – Humanitas publishing house is founded in Bucharest, shortly after the Romanian Revolution, by the philosopher Gabriel Liiceanu. |
| 12689 | February 1 | Event | 1991 – A runway collision between USAir Flight 1493 and SkyWest Flight 5569 at Los Angeles International Airport results in the deaths of 34 people, and injuries to 30 others. |
| 12690 | February 1 | Event | 1992 – The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Bhopal court declares Warren Anderson, ex-CEO of Union Carbide, a fugitive under Indian law for failing to appear in the Bhopal disaster case. |